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The New Year is all about new beginnings. Whether it is a personal goal you have set for yourself, or a home improvement endeavor you plan to complete, the debut of 2017 provides a fresh start. Now that the New Year is in full swing and we have put away the holidays until next year, many Charlotte homeowners are setting their sights on improving not only their lifestyle but their home as well. This may mean beneficial additions or changes to your home and landscape or just getting organized and staying on track with maintaining all the facets that make your house a home.

In much the same way it is important to schedule an annual tune-up for your car to keep it running smooth, dental cleaning or annual check-up to ensure your health, it is also important to schedule inspections and maintenance on things around the house too! If you have an outdoor lighting system, January is a great time to schedule an annual review of your overall system to confirm it is running for optimal performance.

Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Charlotte is here for all your outdoor lighting needs. This includes the design and installation of new outdoor lighting systems AND keeping the system you already have in tip-top shape! Now is the time to schedule your maintenance to make sure your outdoor lighting system is working properly as we move into the New Year and the arrival of the outdoor living season which is just around the corner. We’ll be happy to repair and/or maintain your outdoor lighting system and get you set up for routine maintenance — even if we didn’t install the system. No other outdoor lighting company in the area offers a more thorough maintenance plan than Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Charlotte.

Here’s just a peek at what our plans cover:

• Replace all halogen bulbs (LEDs last much longer)

• Repair any damaged wire

• Rebury any wiring that has surfaced which often occurs due to lawn and landscape maintenance

• Straighten fixtures that may have been bumped

• Inspect your transformer

• Reset / check your timer

• Trim for plant overgrowth that may be obstructing the light beam

• Perform simple changes to enhance the effects of your lighting

You also receive priority response throughout the year and service call repairs at no charge are bonus benefits of our annual maintenance plan. Your lighting system remains headache-free and at optimal performance because proper maintenance is the key to your outdoor lighting’s longevity and extended use.

The recent end of daylight savings time means evenings is now arriving earlier. For many Charlotteans that have no outdoor lighting, or those that are operating on aging, outdated or failing systems, this could mean you return home every night to a dark home. As the night’s darkness continues to sneak up at us, Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Charlotte encourages you to turn your attention to your outdoor lighting system, (or lack thereof) and take notice if it is in need of any maintenance or service.

We pride ourselves on not only designing and installing custom lighting systems, but also providing ongoing maintenance to keep that system performing at peak level. With the dark months upon us, and the arrival of the holiday season, now is the perfect time for a lighting system-tune up. Here are a few things we encourage homeowners with landscape and architectural lighting to look for:

Dimming or uneven illumination

It’s natural for light bulbs to dim over time, but your system overall should always have an even wash of light that effectively illuminates the property. If you’ve noticed it dimming, or uneven illumination there are bulbs out or the light is no longer cohesive across all sections and it may be time to have your bulbs updated.

Depending on the age of your outdoor lighting, you may have halogen lights that will dim more quickly. We now recommend converting your halogen system to LED for added energy-efficiency and performance. The typically LED light lasts up to 50,000 hours. An LED upgrade or conversion is much easier than you may think. In the hands our highly skilled technicians, you can be getting more longevity and cutting energy costs in no time, and if you want to make additions to your system, we may even be able to add more fixtures to your current transformer than you thought. Since LEDs use less wattage, more lights can be added than if they were halogen.

Lights and lens covers

The Queen City is revered for its abundance of beautiful trees, however this time of year means those trees are losing their leaves. We recommend any up lights have lens covers to keep those leaves away from the bulb for safety purposes.

Wiring

We carefully bury all the lighting wiring when we install a new system, but with normal erosion, wiring can become exposed from time to time. This can also occur from normal day-to-day and seasonal activities, such as fall landscaping or raking/blowing fall leaves. If you walk your property and see any wire, make sure to call us to inspect your outdoor lighting system and rebury any wire that has become exposed. Every new system we install includes a one year free Annual Maintenance and Repair Plan contract. After that, you can purchase an additional year for a reasonable fee. This includes most everything you will to keep your system in perfect working order.

It’s well worth having a maintenance plan for your peace of mind and for the longevity of your system. We will even offer the same plan on our competitor’s plans, too! So if they don’t offer you a protection plan, we will be happy to safeguard your investment and make sure it’s in great shape year after year. If you are coming home to a dark house every night, now may also be the best time to consider the addition of outdoor lighting to your property.

In and around the Queen City, most of our minds are on getting the kids back to school. Whether you are a parent or grandparent, these final weeks of summer are often spent gathering supplies and ensuring schedules are in order. Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Charlotte realizes the importance of the moment, but we also realize that some of the best family time is often spent outdoors. As the weather begins to grow cooler and night arrives earlier, we want to encourage families to take a break and enjoy time outdoors making memories that are sure to last a lifetime.

In honor of “back to school” we are offering a special on new LED installations of $2500 or more, and 10% off on all new Annual Maintenance Plans (AMP). This savings will allow you make the most out of the time you spend outdoors with family because a professionally illuminated backyard means no constraints, no rules, just enjoyment. Charlotte outdoor lighting is just the ticket if you’re looking to light your home, highlight your landscaping, provide better safety for your pathways and driveway, or create a relaxing outdoor gathering place in your backyard.

For homeowners with existing outdoor lighting systems, our annual maintenance plan will keep your system running top-notch all year long! Whether you purchased your Charlotte outdoor lighting from us or another vendor, we are always happy to come help repair or maintain your outdoor lighting system. Maintenance is important in preserving the value of any item in which your make an investment. Properly performed annual maintenance on your outdoor lighting system will not only protect your investment, but it will keep your property looking its best for special events you host, as well as keep your system running safely night after night. Our plan covers the following:

Replace all halogen bulbs (LEDs last much longer)

Repair any damaged wire

Rebury any wiring that has surfaced which often occurs due to lawn and landscape maintenance

Straighten fixtures that may have been bumped or knocked out of place

Inspect your transformer

Reset / check your timer

Trim for plant overgrowth that may be obstructing the light beam

Perform simple changes to enhance the effects of your lighting

Priority response throughout the year and service call repairs at no charge are bonus benefits of an Annual Maintenance Plan. Your lighting system remains headache-free and at optimal performance.

Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Charlotte has been illuminating residential and commercial properties in and around the Charlotte area for over 17 years. We are exclusively dedicated to outdoor lighting design, installation and service and are proud of our history and relationships we have in the community.

Labor Day is celebrated on the first Monday in September. It honors the American labor movement and the contributions that workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of the country. For many Charlotteans, Labor Day weekend also marks the official end to summer and the last hoorah for outdoor entertaining. With this in mind, and while you are busy planning the guest list, food and fun, have you thought about how celebration-worthy your backyard will be after the sun goes down?

Will you and your guests be able to navigate your backyard safely in order to enjoy an evening game of corn hole, horse shoes or even for the kids to play in the grass?

Is there enough illumination to check the doneness of those hamburgers and hot dogs you’re grilling?

Is the visibility on your deck and patio good enough to dine comfortably outdoors?

The deck and patio are the core centerpieces of any backyard, and that’s where most of the fun happens including dining, grilling, relaxing and entertaining. It makes perfect sense to enhance this area since it’s the hardest working area during outdoor celebrations. We want your deck to not only look fabulous, but we want the lighting to offer the convenience of helping you with visibility so that you can extend the hours of use well into the evening. We can give you romantic deck lighting and targeted task lighting that helps you see when at the barbecue or grill, overhead café style lighting that can be draped across large bringing in plenty of light to do virtually anything under. We can ensure all the key features of your deck and patio (such as steps) are lit to provide you the safety you need to make them work to their fullest.

Lighting within the landscape itself gives you the freedom to indulge in backyard activities without constraints. We can illuminate trees, shrubs, flower beds, gardens to highlight their beauty and make navigation throughout the landscape easy. Evening yard games become effortless as lighting increases visibility. We can make your backyard glimmer at night with perimeter lighting that makes your property look bigger by enhancing depth and dimension.

Water features are more and more prevalent in our outdoor spaces– requests for pool, spa, fountain, pond and waterfall lighting have increased considerable over the past few years. Families are looking to make these watery enchantments a stand-out feature in their yards and they are seeking to enjoy their use and beauty even in the darkest hours. Our expert lighting designers know exactly how to capture the movement and character that water provides to give you unparalleled relaxation and increasing safety around your pool and/or water feature.

At Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Charlotte, we don’t believe in cookie-cutter lighting kits and one-size-fits-all designs. We focus on designing the perfect lighting system for your specific needs. From casual accent lighting to fully adjustable outdoor displays, we will highlight your home, outdoor living spaces and landscape in a whole new way. Our lighting will sure your Labor Day celebration can continue after the sun sets shows you are the host that makes certain no detail is missed. Imagine being able to grill, dine and entertain well into the evening with the versatility outdoor lighting provides.

Ken Brantly, Owner Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Charlotte.

Contact us today to make your backyard ready for family, friends and fun in time for Labor Day and every night throughout the year! You can reach us at (704) 849-8808 or via email at charlotte.outdoorlights.com.

You have probably seen festival lighting, (also referred to as fiesta, cafe and string lighting), the last time you flipped through the pages of an upscale home & garden magazine, or even as you surfed the home & garden channels on your TV. Festival lighting is all the rage for Charlotte homeowners wanting to add ambiance in their outdoor settings. This style of lighting is one of the most unique and versatile lighting trends customers are requesting. Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Charlotte embraces emerging outdoor lighting ideas and new ways to introduce not only illumination into an area, but also as a way to convey a feeling of a mood within a space.

Festival lighting in patio courtyard.

Though this style of decorative lighting may seem new but the ideal has been around for centuries. Festival lighting originated as a way to light outdoor areas in honor of outdoor celebrations. Street festivals and fairs filled with music and merriment were often draped in lights for an evening or two to commemorate a significant local event and removed at festivals end.

Permanent festival lighting takes this dramatic lighting effect to a new level because the lighting is permanent which allows you to indulge in its appeal every night. Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Charlotte has completed many permanent festival lighting installations here in the Charlotte and South Charlotte area in both residential and commercial settings for many happy customers. Calls continue to pour in as more business owners and homeowners are requesting this unique lighting for their backyards, outdoor living spaces and commercial storefronts.

Keep in mind, though similar in nature, all festival lighting is not the same. The string lighting that is offered at many “big-box” stores may appear trendy, it is not designed for longevity or to provide multi-seasonal use.We use commercial-grade lighting products and professional installation on our festival lighting, which include multiple strands of low-voltage LED or incandescent festoon lights.We then professionally install hem over the span of the area we are illuminating. We use cable to support the weight of the electrical wiring when we install permanent festival lighting over an area with a large span; this ensures the safety and the integrity of the system. Our lighting comes in both clear (white), and we also offer multiple colors to choose from.

Ken Brantly, Owner Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Charlotte.

We are having great success using festival lighting to convey beauty, ambiance and character through our outdoor lighting designs. Permanent festival lighting is another way we are able to enliven the senses. If you would like to learn more about adding festival lighting at your home or place of business contact Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Charlotte today to learn more.

Warmer days are headed to the Charlotte area and that means pool time is just right around the corner! We are lucky that we can enjoy a long swimming and entertainment season as Charlotteans; and with the Memorial Day holiday heading our way next month, homeowners are calling us wanting to get their pool areas swim ready. Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Charlotte’s lighting designers will show you exactly how to enhance your backyard experience with regard to your pool, deck, porch, patio and everything in between.

Extend your pool enjoyment this season with outdoor lighting!

We are no strangers to lighting up pools and other water features such as ponds, waterfalls and fountains. Adding a sense of elegant ambiance and character is something we know how to do well, and it takes a special talent to light up water in the best light so that it shimmers and has plenty of movement that will inspire guests. In fact, pool lighting can be a fairly complicated task for those that do not have the right skills and experience to do it correctly. Pools tend to be at ground level, and the wrong lighting can actually produce a harsh glare that ruins all the fun for your visitors. Nobody wants a bright light in their face while enjoying evening pool time lounging by the water or taking a dip after the sun has gone down. We can create an incredible effect that highlights all the cool features of your pool such as hardscape, retaining walls, a waterfall or even your flowers and trees surrounding your pool area.

Before and after pool lighting — what a difference!

We can offer you an incredible outdoor lighting experience that gives your pool surround a total custom feel. Our stylish fixtures are made expressly for us right in America of all metal materials with the highest gauge wiring on the market. Not only will your pool and garden look fabulous, but you get the peace of mind of safety where you can clearly see everything and your guests can securely walk around without the danger of a fall. We can make features such as your waterfall or a nearby ornamental tree truly pop in the dark with a real wow factor. It doesn’t matter if you are grilling, chilling with friends poolside, playing a game of water polo or sharing a romantic dinner with your love—Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Charlotte will set the right mood that will extend your backyard endeavors no matter what the hour. After all, why should the party stop simply because the sun has gone down?

Landscape lighting adds outdoor square footage to your property which adds plenty of extra value, and it gets the family out in the fresh air. We’ve been cooped indoors with a cooler than expected winter in Charlotte, and now is the time to set the stage for warmer spring evenings. As our clients are busy cleaning out their pools in anticipation of the season, it’s time to give us a call to add dazzling lighting to the mix. We can help you upgrade your existing lighting scheme, retrofit your system to low consumption LED’s or even set up a whole new system from scratch. Don’t wait until the last minute to get your poolscape ready for family and friends with custom lighting.

In today’s busy world, having a customer take the time out of their schedule to leave a review about their experience in working with us for their outdoor lighting needs speaks volumes and is greatly appreciated! When looking for the right outdoor lighting professional to design and install outdoor lighting at their home or business folks usually head to Google to start their research.

It’s one thing to say “The Night Is Ours.” It’s far more convincing to hear what our customers are saying about us. At Outdoor Lighting Perspectives, we’re proud of our success in achieving customer satisfaction and honored to be considered a Best in Class company in the outdoor lighting industry. We’d like to share a few of the many Google reviews we’ve received from our delighted customers. Keep in mind nothing would please us more than having you included in this very satisfied group!

“We had a great experience with Outdoor Lighting Perspectives. The firm offered us great ideas and solutions and worked with us until we achieved the lighting effects we desired. Ken and his team would meet us on our schedule and often at night to get the best sense of what we wanted to install. Follow-up has been tremendous. Thank you!”

— E. Hobbs of Charlotte, NC, via Google Review

“We have used Outdoor Lighting Perspectives for many years. They are knowledgeable, reliable, and easy to work with.They also have good ideas on how to best highlight your yard features. I would highly recommend!”

— C. Howell of Charlotte, NC, via Google Review

“Ken and team are great — extremely customer service-oriented, and fast, hassle-free service response time. Creative with their lighting expertise, always professional. A pleasure to work with, and a great value. Their installation of outdoor lighting has made a huge, positive impact for my property.”

— M. Stahley of Charlotte, NC, via Google Review

“I have had their outdoor lighting on my home for 13 years. I have the bulbsreplaced every few years and have not had any problems. I would recommendthem for any new lighting systems. Please consider them.”

— A. Litaker of Mint Hill, NC, via Google Review

“My new Garden Luminaries are the hit of the neighborhood.I love them.”

— L. Spada of Charlotte, NC, via Google Review

“Ken and his team do an outstanding job. I have used them exclusively since 1997 and they have always delivered. I highly recommend Outdoor Lighting Perspectives to anyone who needs outdoor lighting and also appreciates quality products, service, and expertise!”

— T. Shannon of Charlotte, NC, via Google Review

“This is an excellent company to work with. Their installation was very neatly done and they have been very professional, even fixing a problem I caused. I would highly recommend using them for all outdoor lighting needs.”

— A. Glenney of Charlotte, NC, via Google Review

“They were installed perfectly for the effect we wanted and have been maintained meticulously after installation.”

— C. Harr of Charlotte, NC, via Google Review

We want to sincerely thank all our amazing Charlotte outdoor lighting clients for the wonderful reviews — your correspondence, smiles and satisfaction are the reason we do what we do!

Family and friends will soon be visiting for the upcoming holidays, so you want to be sure your outdoor lighting is up to snuff and ready to light the way this season. With night arriving earlier this time of year, you want to be sure your guests can easily see your home in the black of night. You want to ensure that parking on your driveway and walking to your front door is easy and safe to welcome your holiday guests.

Driveway, sidewalks and entries should be well-lit to ensure guests arrive to your door safely this season!

Cornhole is more fun with outdoor lighting in your backyard!

The holidays in Charlotte are a wonderful time of year thanks to our mild weather, so there are plenty of outdoor activities that can still be enjoyed outdoors — like tossing the football around after Thanksgiving dinner even in the evening. Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Charlotte can set up perimeter and landscape lighting that will enable tossing the ball around, and all sorts of fun, family-friendly games like horseshoes or even a cornhole battle with guests. If you want to show off your outdoor fireplace or fire pit, we can provide lighting in those specific areas that will make it easy for everyone to hang out and enjoy some marshmallows and a hot chocolate.

Holiday-ready outdoor lighting will ensure your home looks awesome when guests arrive with plenty of dimension and character. Nighttime illumination makes your house look grand and our designers use all sorts of tricks to make every angle and corner of your home have a moonlit feel that is gracious and elegant. We can employ beneficial outdoor task lighting so if you want to smoke a rack of ribs or fry a turkey for the holidays, you can see clearly to handle the chore safely and can tell when the food is cooked through.

Guests will be wowed when they can see your backyard lit up while nestled indoors. Your garden beds and ornamental trees will come alive through your big picture window and French doors to your deck when Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Charlotte’s lighting architects apply their magic to your outdoor living areas. We can cast gorgeous light on any part of your yard that you’d like to accentuate such as a water feature, sculpture, an expansive patio or even a pond. There are no limits to what we can do to make your outdoor lighting dreams come true. Why see nothing more than deep blackness out of your windows when you can see an enchanting picture-postcard look instead?

We service everything we install, so be sure you are holiday ready by contacting us for an appointment to check the health of your system NOW. We will make sure your bulbs, fixtures, timer and wires are all working as they should. If you’ve got old-fashioned halogen bulbs, we can change them out to low consumption LED ones that can save you money in the long-term since they have a 50,000+ hour average lifespan. If you need additional lights, we can add fixtures to your existing system from our broad offering of MADE IN THE USA metal fixtures that are made especially for us under our exacting standards. They are commercial grade and made to last unlike the cheap housings made for the big box stores with plastic parts and inferior quality.

Don’t let the rainy weather impact getting your Charlotte outdoor lighting in order for the busy season ahead!

It’s been three straight weeks of rain in Charlotte, and of course that prevents outdoor labor from happening on behalf of many contractors that work on home exteriors and yards. Customers also wait until after it rains to contact us, when really they should be calling on a rainy day so work can begin when it finally dries out on a sunny day. If you’ve been thinking on servicing or upgrading your outdoor lighting before the hectic holiday season, the time to get on our schedule is NOW!

Get your outdoor lighting holiday-ready in Charlotte as Thanksgiving is just a few weeks away and you want to make sure your house looks spectacular in the evening before the guests start showing up (especially the Mother-in-law). Ensure that your driveway is easy for cars to navigate on and visitors can easily see where to walk to your front door despite the dark. We will give your home’s exterior tons of evening dimension and pop thanks to skillful tricks that our lighting designers employ.

If you’ve moved into a new home that has no landscape lighting whatsoever, you can sit down with one of our lighting architects that will help you figure out what your illumination needs are based on your lifestyle. We ask you targeted questions that help us figure out what your outdoor lighting goals are and what is most important to you. You might have an outdoor water feature or pool perimeter that you’d like to play up, or a deck or patio that needs lighting to not only accentuates it, but also to make it safe in terms of walking up and down steps. We can light up your garden beds and up light your trees so that when you are sitting in your home you can see your backyard lit up like a living canvas that you can appreciate even on the darkest night.

Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Charlotte can provide you with useful task lighting that fits elegantly into your entire illumination scheme and doesn’t scream harsh spotlight. An outdoor kitchen work area, barbecue, overhead patio lights and garage door lighting can all be done in a classy way that still serves its needed purpose of extra visibility. If you walk the dogs late at night, we can also spotlight an area so that you and your pup can safely do your business and feel comfortable and safe.

Let us come and check your system before the winter hits to ensure everything is working properly. We will look at your wiring bulbs, fixtures, transformer, timer and all the working parts of your outdoor lighting system to ensure everything is in top-notch working order before your guests arrive for the holidays. If you want to add additional fixtures to your existing system, we can illuminate areas that are dark and could use additional light. If a whole new lighting plan is what you’re after, then we can suit you up with a low consumption LED outdoor lighting scheme that will be easy on your power bill and be environmentally green. Our fixtures are made in the USA and are commercial quality so you will get many years of solid use out of them. We have innumerable shapes and styles that will fit whatever look and feel you are after, including specialty fixtures that add a truly sculptural and artistic flair to your property. Why have boring lighting when you can wow your guests with the unique and spectacular. Book an appointment NOW!

You’ve heard the old saying “Spring Forward & Fall Back” since you were a kid to help your remember which way to turn the clock to compensate for Daylight Savings Time (DST). Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Charlotte is here to remind you that November 1st is just a few days away and it is the day to push your clocks back one hour as our days get shorter.

The right timer will give you peace of mind by regulating your outdoor lighting system.

Losing an hour creates a host of issues since the evening arrives sooner than just a few months ago. It affects a lot of things you might not be thinking of, such as when your landscape lighting turns on and off. What your timer was previously set to may no longer work for the members of your household, so it means dealing with the annoyance of re-programming your current timer. You’ve got to dig out the manual and figure out which way to turn all those troublesome dials, switches or buttons again! We can help you avoid the nightmare that the season time change wreaks on your landscape lighting by installing the best gizmo ever—and astronomical timer. No, it has nothing to do with astronomy and the moon and stars, silly! It’s an awesome and very simple device that AUTOMATICALLY adjusts to daylight savings time so you have to do nothing at all!

We simply input your exact location into the timer and a sophisticated GPS is able to determine when daylight and nightfall happens in your area and when your system needs to turn on and off. It’s genius! Your kids will not arrive home to a dark home when they get home from school, and you will easily see the driveway and your front door when you come home from work. Everyone will feel safe thanks to good visibility and not coming home to a creepy dark home. You don’t ever have to think about adjusting your outdoor lighting again thanks to this neat device.

Years ago, old-school landscape lighting timers had buttons or dials had to be moved every few months to account for how long or short the days were. If you’ve got one of these antiquated timers, then you will love the ease of an astronomical timer! There is no need to do a thing to account for seasonal time changes, as this smart device handles everything for you. It doesn’t get any better than this for a fuss-free and painless way to keep your landscape lighting working right. A battery backup takes care of everything even if there is a power outage, too.

Astronomical timers know automatically how to best utilize existing daylight hours, so they save you money since you are not consuming power to light your property and home when it’s not required. They are environmentally green since they help save you money and keep power costs down. There’s a lot to be said for the convenience and cost savings that an astronomical timer provides. Let us install an astronomical timer on your outdoor lighting so you can take advantage of the benefits they provide.